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Top Ten Favorite Fantasy Novels

This was a very hard list to make, since much of what I read is from the fantasy, scifi, and dystopian genres, so I had lots of favorites to whittle down! In an effort to try and limit my list a little, I am going to focus on fantasy novels in particular: those with magic, fairies, and mythical creatures. Most of my choices are series, but they’re so good it’s hard to pick just one! Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Harry Potter series, by J. K. Rowling. There’s not much to say about this series that hasn’t already been said. It’ll always be one of my favorite fantasy series of all time.

2. Harper Hall Trilogy, by Anne McCaffrey. This is a YA series about a musically talented young girl that is set in the same world as The Dragonriders of Pern. Although that series didn’t make this list, it is also a wonderful, classic fantasy series that I love.

3. The Sword of Truth series, by Terry Goodkind. This is a long series that I have yet to finish, however the first book, Wizard’s First Rule, is a great stand alone fantasy novel that I whole-heartedly recommend.

4. The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien. I loved this book when I read it as a kid and actually enjoyed it much more than the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

5. Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss. I’ve only read the first book in this currently unfinished series, but it was pretty amazing all on it’s own. I’m looking forward to the second book which I’ve been told is just as great. Don’t let the length of these scare you off, they are worth the time spent.

6. The Lotus War series, by Jay Kristoff. My full review of the first book, Stormdancer, makes it pretty clear that I am a big fan of this series. I really love the friendship between the two main characters (one of which isn’t human)!

7. Tiffany Aching series, by Terry Pratchett. This is a YA series set in the popular Discworld, and features a wonderful cast of characters, some of which appear in other Discworld novels.

8. Artemis Fowl series, by Eion Colfer. This series follows a young criminal mastermind who isn’t a very nice kid, but grows and changes over the course of the series.

9. Tithe, by Holly Black. I picked this one up in high school one summer and the story of the dark, dangerous fairies has stayed with me since.

10. Daughter of the Lioness series, by Tamora Pierce. This series features a strong female lead, shape-shifters, and meddling from some gods to make a very good fantasy series.

That was a difficult list to come up with and there are so many more that I could add! What are your favorite fantasy novels?

I love the Sword of Truth series… Well so far. I’m only through book 4, which I didn’t like as much as the first 3. Sadly, I’ve read a lot of reviews that say the series goes downhill pretty quickly after that. But I think I’ll still try to read them all.

Great list. I have to admit that the only books I have read from your list is Harry Potter, but it’s the best one so I don’t feel too bad Quite a few of the others are on my TBR list though. Nice picks and thanks for checking out my list